Alleyne baronets
| Alleyne baronets | |
|---|---|
Coat of arms of the Alleyne baronets of Four Hills | |
| Creation | 1769 |
| Status | extant |
| Motto | Non tua te moveant sed publica vota (Let not your wishes move you but rather those of the public) |
| Arms | Per chevron Gules and Ermine in chief two Lion's Heads erased Or |
| Crest | Out of a Ducal Coronet a Horse's Head Argent |
The Alleyne Baronetcy, of Four Hills in Barbados, is a title in the Baronetage of Great Britain. The Alleyne family (like the Codrington family, Drax family, Terrill family, and Clement family) were amongst the first European colonisers of Barbados, but the Baronetage was created only on 6 April 1769 for John Alleyne who was a Barbadian politician and Speaker of the House of Assembly of Barbados from 1767 to 1797 except for a short period during 1771 and 1772.
The first Alleyne to emigrate to Barbados was Reynold Alleyne, who was the son of The Rev. Richard Alleyne D.D., Rector of St. Mary’s, Stowting, Kent, from 1605. Reynold Alleyne emigrated to Barbados between 1628 and 1630.
Their estates in Barbados and North America were:
- from 1746 to 1782, that of the Jacobean mansion St Nicholas Abbey, in Saint Peter, Barbados, which Sir John Gay Alleyne acquired by marriage to Christian Dottin during 1746, and which became one of the most successful sugar plantations in Barbados before, after the death of their only son, its ownership reverted to her relations on her death during 1782.
- from 1810 to 1895, Alleynedale Hall (previously called Cabbage Tree Hall), in Saint Peter, Barbados;
- Porters Plantation and Great House, which included Alleyne Cottage, in Saint James, Barbados, which was the home of John Forster Alleyne, and his son Charles Thomas, and Thomas Harbin Alleyne;
- from 1769 to 1788, The Dorothy Quincy Homestead, 34 Butler Road, Quincy, Massachusetts, which the widow Mary Alleyne (nee Woodbridge) purchased, with 400 acres of land, in 1769.
Many members of the Alleyne family were either baptised, married, or buried, in St. James Parish Church, Barbados, which was built in 1847 on the site of the oldest church on Barbados. In the north east corner of the church's grounds is a walled family burial plot for the Alleynes, and inside the church there are mounted on the walls several plaques to commemorate the Alleynes. Furthermore, at St. Lucy Parish Church, Barbados, there is a plaque in the nave to commemorate Sir Reynold Abel Alleyne, 2nd Baronet (1789–1870), and numerous members of the Alleyne family are buried outside the altar on the north side of the church. The Rev. Herbert Milton Decourcy Alleyne was Rector of St. Lucy Parish Church, Barbados, from 1929 to 1949.
The family surname is pronounced "Alleen".